Paul McCartney to play an ‘Independence Concert’ in Kyiv

On Saturday 14th June 2008

On Saturday 14th June 2008, at the invitation of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, Paul McCartney will perform to hundreds and thousands of people in Independence Square, Kyiv, Ukraine. According to PinchukArtCenter, this event has been named Independence Concert and was launched today in Kyiv by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation. Paul`s special show will be free to attend and will be broadcasted live on Novy TV.

This exciting event will be seen as symbolic for several generations of Ukrainians. It will allow people of different ethnicities and religions, political preferences and geopolitical orientations to come together around the ideas of peace, love and unity; the very ideas that Paul McCartney with The Beatles helped bring into the World. Independence Concert is an independent social initiative that aims to strengthen the confidence and understanding in the Ukrainian society.

The ideology and spirit of The Beatles helped build the democratic aspirations for much of the soviet society and eventually led to the peaceful collapse of the USSR and independence of the former Soviet republics.

Independence Concert appeals to the ideals that helped 30 years ago to melt down the ice of the ‘cold war` in the hearts of millions and changed the world into a better place. Today the ideology that forms the core of Ukrainian independence is shared with Paul McCartney`s own ideology. Independence Concert serves to promote happiness, freedom, love and peace not only in Ukraine but also to the entire World.

It is planned that this historic concert will be broadcast live on screens in cities across Ukraine for those who can`t make it to Kyiv.

Paul McCartney said:

‘I`m very excited because on the 14th of June I`ve been invited to play a concert in Independence Square, Kyiv. Me and the band are going to be there and we`re going to have to a great evening and we hope to see you there. So come along, it`s going to be great evening hopefully for Ukraine. Pull together, groove, rock and roll - all together"

"One could not imagine this 30 years ago. Nobody could even dare to hope for this 20 years ago. One could only dream about it 10 years ago. 5 years ago we could only envy our neighbours for whom this became a reality. And finally the day has come. For the first time we have the opportunity to hear the songs that changed the world and created a new culture. The songs that we grew up with and became who we are.

These songs tell us about very simple but nevertheless important things: real love can`t be bought and that real friendship can`t be sold. There is much more to what unites people than what divides them, and in reality it`s not an impossible task to become a better person and to make the world a better place, especially if you do it all together.

Recently, we had not so many reasons to unite. Not to group under some political flags but to really gather all together. And I believe that this initiative and the concert can help us there are not so many ways to bring together the East and the West, to make the young and the mature closer, to combine different convictions and aspirations into one common national idea of building a free, tolerant and prosperous country"

In addition to the concert the Victor Pinchuk Foundation will also be exhibiting 40 of Paul`s paintings at the Pinchuk Art Centre, the largest in Eastern Europe. This will be Paul`s first exhibition in this part of the world. His first art exhibition was in Siegen, Germany in 1999. Paul will personally open the exhibition.

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